Mikel Arteta rages at Arsenal display against West Ham as Paul Merson says title race with Liverpool is over

Mikel Arteta was left "very, very angry" about Arsenal's display in their 1-0 loss to West Ham and said they "deserve to feel the pain" as Sky Sports' Paul Merson claimed their title hopes are "one million per cent" over.

Jarrod Bowen's close-range header before half-time proved decisive in a game which also saw a red card for Arsenal substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly as the Gunners failed to close the gap to Liverpool.

Arne Slot's side remain eight points clear ahead of their trip to Manchester City on Super Sunday and Arteta, who started Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker following his two-goal cameo against Leicester, insisted Arsenal's attacking injuries were no excuse for their poor showing.

"I refuse that completely because I am talking about the standards of the players and the team that played today, me included, and that was nowhere near the levels that we have to hit to have the opportunity to win the Premier League," he said.

"Very disappointed, obviously very angry as well," he added. "I think you have to congratulate West Ham for the victory and the game that they played.

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"But there was a lot from our side that we never got right and didn't allow us to get enough momentum, enough sequences of play with positive action that could deliver situations of threat for them.

"I never felt that we were at the standard and the level that we needed.

"We have to be [angry]. I hope we are very much because we didn't hit the levels today and I am very much responsible of that. So I am very, very, very angry."

Arsenal lost Kai Havertz to a season-ending knee injury earlier this month having failed to strengthen their attack in the January transfer window. They are also without Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, with the latter out for the rest of the campaign, like Havertz.

"No, no, no," he said when asked if the performance vindicated his comments about wanting a new striker in January. "I think we have to look in the mirror of ourselves of what we can do better.

"The will and the desire and the way we run and the way we want it... Zero question about that. But at that level, it is not enough.

"You have to deliver and it has to be with a lot of quality to break a really good team down, to win many more duels than we have done and to put action that can end up in a threatening moment for the opposition to win the game. Today we haven't done that."

Asked about their chances of catching Liverpool in the title race, Arteta added: "It's not in our hands. For me, I'm really, really annoyed with the things that are in our hands that we didn't do as well as we possibly could and that's the performance and the result today."

Arsenal travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Wednesday and Arteta urged his players to "feel the pain" of the result as they bid to bounce back. "We have to feel the pain, we deserve it," he said.

"We have to suffer. Twenty-four, 48 hours, suffer and feel the pain and make sure that we come back on Monday with that bite and that anger still in the tummy for Wednesday."

Merson: I worry for Arsenal now

While Arteta implored his players to use the result as motivation to bounce back, former Arsenal midfielder Merson insisted the defeat ends their hopes of beating Liverpool to the title.

"[The title race is over] one million per cent," he said on Soccer Saturday. "Arsenal cannot catch Liverpool. They've got no forward. They've got a young 17-year-old in Nwaneri who has got a bright future but he struggled today.

"[Leandro] Trossard is a bit-part player in my opinion. There's absolutely no chance Arsenal can win the league. Even if Liverpool get beat 7-0 [against Man City], Arsenal cannot win it.

"I've seen enough today to know they are going to struggle until the end of the season. They've got 12 games left and will do well to win half of those.

"Suddenly the PSV game in the Champions League is a heads or tails. They've got nothing up front. They are toothless. Centre-forward is such an art, you can't just throw someone up there. I don't see them beating Nottingham Forest either - I'd be shocked.

"Arsenal were fortunate last week, let's be honest," he added of last weekend's 2-0 win over Leicester. "At 0-0 they made Leicester look decent.

"Merino comes on and scores two very good goals. But it's a hard position to play, centre forward, there aren't a lot of them around.

"To just throw people up there and expect them to do the magic, for me, is mind-blowing.

"He looked like a fish up a tree. I don't mean to be disrespectful to him, he's a holding midfield player. You just can't do that. I worry for Arsenal now."

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Mikel Arteta rages at Arsenal display against West Ham as Paul Merson says title race with Liverpool is over